Lost It All
by FaithLovsReedus
Summary: She came to Georgia to find her half-brother were she finds out he's gone. She decides to stay with the group although has a dislike for no reason for the man with the crossbow. Will they ever get along and how long will she plan on staying with the group. M rating for violence, gore and other stuff.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So this is my first TWD fan fiction. The fiction starts up in episode "Home". Afterword's, it's going to go AU. It will include Woodburry and what not. Anyway, hope you all enjoy.

*Chapter 1*

I watched off in the distance through the binoculars as a truck pulled up near the prison. A few men got out of the vehicle. One with an eye patch over his eye carrying a pretty nasty gun in his hand and an evil smirk that would make even the devil shiver in fear. Suddenly he fired the gun at someone, a single shot. I turned my binoculars to the people inside the prison as the single bullet plunged into the skull of one of the survivors. He had blonde shaggy hair that was a bit wavy. I watched as the blood splattered on the, what appeared to be a woman with really short gray hair. Everyone inside the prison dived to the ground, screaming and yelling. Then in a blink of an eye, there was a huge fire fight. After a brief shoot out, I heard the revving of an engine coming towards the prison. It was moving at a high rate of speed and slammed into the gates that surrounded the prison. It quickly stopped in the flied and sat there for a minute or two then the back opened and a ramp dropped down. I continued to watch and to my horror as a herd of walkers came out of the back of the truck. I watched as the walkers spread out quickly and started towards the people in the flied. I watched as several of them started to close in on a man with black curly hair. The men from the truck that shot at everyone started to climb back in and the man with the eye patch shot off several rounds before climbing back into the truck and heading off. I noticed another truck coming into the place as the other one hauled ass. I turned my attention as I watched the people start to fight off the walkers. I noticed the curly haired man was slowly getting overcome by the walkers. I debated in my head if I should get involved or keep moving. I growled in frustration as my heart won out and decided to go help. I placed my binoculars in my pack and I quickly pulled out my duel kukri knives from the holster around my waist and started running towards the field. I quickly ran at a walker and running off to the side, slicing one of my knives into its head. The top of its head slung off as it fell face first to the ground. Another growled at me and started sluggishly running toward me I threw one of the knives and it struck the walker in the head, splitting open its skull. I ran over and yanked out the knife and started heading towards the man as a woman with a white katana started slicing through the walkers. We made quick work of the walker when I looked up to see if the man was still alive. He tried to run one way and was blocked off. Suddenly I watched as two walkers closed in on him.

"We need to get the hell over there before those walkers make him dinner!" I screamed as I put my knives back into the holsters and reached behind me pulling out my dual 12 gauge sawed-off double barreled shotguns from the holsters on my back.

I only used these in an emergency and need to make quick work of several walkers. I took aim at a handful of walkers and fired. Several coins flew out of the barrels and into the walker, blowing holes into their heads and dropping them to the ground. I was making quick work of the walker but I wasn't moving fast enough as I looked over to the man. He pinned up against the tall fence, trying to hold off the walker that was right in his face. I ran harder to a new group of walker and fired my guns trying to kill them and run at the same time. I was almost there when a bolt shot through the head of one of the walkers that had a hold of the man. Two men ran into the area and the one ran a stick or something through the head of the other walker than was next to the man. They made quick work of the other walker around them. As quickly as it started, it was over. I looked over at the man with a crossbow as he looked at the curly haired man. They nodded to each other then turned their attention to me. I glared at the two men and walker over to them as they looked at the field of what was left of the walkers.

"Who the hell are ya?" asked the man with the crossbow as he held up his crossbow at me ready to fire. This drew the attention of the other two to me. I placed my guns back in the holsters on my back and looked at each one of their faces.

"How about we get inside that prison before the walkers make us into snacks on legs?" I snarled at them as I pulled out my knives and started heading towards the gate to be let in. I heard them following behind, saying nothing. The girl with the katana also joined in with them. There were a few stay walkers and I walked by them, bring one of my knives down through its head then pulling it out and kept walking. The group that was inside opened the gates letting us all in then closed the gates. Every single one of them had their eyes on me with looks of shock. The man with the curly hair walked over to me.

"I'm Rick Grimes." He smiled at me and extended his to me to shake it. I placed my knives back into the holster and gripped his hand and shook it.

"I'm Alice Walsh. It's nice to meet you." I replied, not returning the smile.

"Wait. Hold on a second. Walsh? Your last name is Walsh?" The man that looked like he was Asian asked me with a shocked look on his face. I looked at all the faces staring at me with shocked looks all except for the man with the crossbow. He just looked at me like he wasn't sure he could trust me or not.

"Yes, my last name is Walsh. I've been trying to find my brother, Shame for months. Well, He's my half-brother. His mother divorced his father then she moved to Baltimore and remarried. I took a vacation to Georgia to find him. Then the outbreak started up. I've still been searching for him. Did you all know or see him?" I answered looking each person in the face. They all either looked at each other or at the ground.

"Yeah, we knew him…he was a part of our group." Rick replied shifting his weight uncomfortably. I only feared the worst as I heard him say was.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I wanted to add more to the last A/N but I didn't do the copy and paste thing. Now I started my fiction at the prison since I was getting a bit tired of reading fictions of the farm and looking for Sophia. It was sadly getting repetitive. I noticed in my last chapter, I didn't proof read before posting and had typos all over the place. I felt kinda stupid after I posted it and read it over. I also have to zoom in my screen to see since my vision isn't very good right now. Sorry for the long ass wait too. I'm thinking of how I can work some of the shows story line into this fiction. I wanna include "The Sorrowful Life" in this since it may be a breaking point for Alice. Oh and I added a description of Alice on my profile on this site. So you wanna idea of what she looks like, info on her, and her weapons along with pictures. Go and check it out! And thank you **hayleyjune13 **for your review! =) And thanks to everyone who favorite this fiction and started following it.

*Chapter 2*

I heard the deep rumble of thunder as the sky started to darken. I felt fat rain drops start to hit my face as I waited for Rick to explain what happened to my brother. I felt rage coursing through my veins, ready to explode at hearing the word was come from his mouth.

"What the fuck do you mean he was part of your group? Stop dicking around and tell me what in the fucking hell happened to him!" I screamed at him as the rain began to pour from the sky, soaking us all to the bone.

"Alice, please calm down. Something happened with Shame. He…he wasn't the same as he was after the outbreak. He seemed to have lost all his sanity. Shane and I were best friends all through high school, even became cops for King County PD. Well, one day we got a call for a high speed chase. We thought there was only two that we shot but one was hiding in the car. He got out as I was turned towards Shane and the guy shot me. Several months later after the outbreak I woke up from the coma I was in, finding nothing but walkers. After some of these guys here helping me, we made our way out of Atlanta where I met up with him, my son and my wife, Lori. Shane told Lori I was dead and she seemed to move on and had bit of a relationship with him. I came to their camp and after words, Shane…just changed. He let a man get eaten by walkers and finally he tried to kill me. I hated to do it…but I ended up killing him." Rick explained to me.

My face contorted into anger as he explained what had happened. He killed my only family I had left.

"You gotta understand, he tried to kill me. Take me away from my son and wife. Take me away from these people who have also become my family. It hurt like hell having to do what I did. I didn't want to do it but it had to be done." Rick explained to me.

"He tried to take away your family?! He was the only family I had left alive! I didn't find out I had a brother until the outbreak and the end of the world happened. I know for a fact our parents are gone. He was all I had and you're going to say he tried to take away you from your family. You took away mine!" I screamed as I got into his face. Everyone besides the man with the crossbow, Rick and me shuddered at the lightning that struck a few feet away from us. The rest of the group ran into the prison from the storm. I suddenly screamed in rage and agony and ran towards Rick, ready to fight him when someone tackled me to the ground. In my blind rage I looked up to see the man with the crossbow. He quickly pinned me to ground.

"Ya need ta calm yer ass down a bit." He growled into my ear. I screamed and squirmed under him trying to get free. He only tightened his grip on me.

"Let me go!" I screamed as he pulled me to my feet. I tried to jerk my arms away from him but he kept a hold of me as Rick walked over to me. He had a calm face as he watched me.

"No. You need to calm down. We're gonna take you inside and we're gonna put you in a cell. Once you're calm we'll let you out." He said as he turned around and began to walk towards the prison. I shivered a bit realizing I was soaking wet from the thunder storm that was still going. I still didn't want to stay here. I had been on my own for a long time and was used to it. I worked better on my own. I didn't have to worry about keeping others safe, didn't have to worry about having to keep others fed. It was just me, myself and I to take care of.

The man with the crossbow kept a tight grip on my hands as we walked into the. We headed to where the rest of the group had gathered and watched as we walked in. They walked me up the steps that over looked everyone. I noticed the first cell had someone's belonging inside it but the next one was open. They walked me to the second cell. The man with the crossbow let my hands go as I walked into the cell. He pulled it closed and Rick pulled out the keys and locked the door. I watched as Rick walked away from the cell with unreadable expression on his face. The man with the crossbow stood watching me for a few more minutes until he also walked away. I signed still angry at finding out my brother was dead.

I pulled off my pack, then my knives and guns and sat them close to the bed. Then I pulled off my bag as I sat down on the bottom bunk bed. I looked through my pack for the bottle of rum I had found in my travels. Once I had found it I pulled it out and opened it then took to deep drinks of it. I sat there drinking the bottle rum, it calming me down. After a while a young girl with shoulder length blonde hair walked up to my cell with a tray of food. It was a little bit of canned peas, some pork and beans and some of those canned apples. There was a glass of water. I placed the bottle of rum on the floor and stood up from the bed and walked over to the cell door. She pushed the tray through the opening in the cell door and I took it from her.

"Thanks." I said with a nod of my head to her. She smiled at me and nodded her head in return.

"No problem. My name is Beth by the way, never got your name." She said as she leaned on the door.

Ah, I'm Alice. I was Shane's half-sister. Not sure if you met him or not. I'm assuming you did since you're a part of the group." I replied as I walked over to the bed and sat down.

"Yeah, I knew him. He ended up killing my mama. She-She was a walker. My father had her, my brother and several others locked in there." She said as her eyes started to tear up.

I began to think that maybe Shane wasn't the greatest person in the world although I never met him but at the same time keeping walkers locked in a barn was a bit fucked up also.

"I'm sorry. I've lost a whole lot of people myself. I'm pretty sure my parents are dead and more than likely they're walkers now." I replied as I took a few bites of the food given to me.

Beth signed then looked up at me with an emotionless expression then shook her head.

"My father didn't know. He was holding out hope that there was going to be a cure. So far there haven't been any of the sorts. Anyway, I'm gonna go see if either Rick or Daryl feel comfortable to let you out." She said as stood up straight and slightly smiled then walked off.

I continued to eat as I thought about what Beth had told me and what Rick told me about my brother. Maybe if I kept myself calm the group would tell me more about him, although I was not too fond of the guy with the crossbow. He just pissed me off really bad. I have been on my own and I was pretty tough but that didn't give him the right what so ever to man handle me like he did. Then he just came out of nowhere and started killing walkers and in the end saving Rick's life. I sensed Rick's presences at the door as I finished off my food. I took a quick drink of the water after swallowing the food to rinse any food down.

"Beth told me you were calmed down enough now to be left out of there. Are you calmed down enough for me to do so? Besides you need a dry set of clothes also." Rick said tilting his head towards my damp clothes.

"Yeah, I've calmed down. I'm-I'm sorry for the way I acted. I tend to get really pissed off. Plus that guy with the crossbow man handling me like he was doing pissed me off also." I replied as I watched Rick pull out the keys and unlocked the cell and finally opened it.

"Ah, Daryl, he's a bit protective of the group. We've been through a lot as you've seen today but its fine. I can understand loosing someone. I lost my wife not too long ago. I went into a blind rage, killin' walkers and almost killed the Asian kid, Glenn.

Anyway, let's get you some clothes. We have showers with hot water. I'll have one of the girls show you were the showers are." He said changing the subject quickly.

"Ah, I got some clothes in my pack. Not a lot but enough to get me by but thank you though. "I said as I went over to my pack and pulled out an orange tank then a mesh tank and a pair of black jeans. The one leg was ripped off somehow but it didn't bother me too much. I pulled out a few other things like socks, bra and a pair of underwear. I walked out of the room and followed Rick as he led me to an area where everyone was gathered.

"Ok first off let me introduce you to everyone." Rick pointed out each person and gave their names. Then he introduced me to everyone. The looks on their faces kind of annoyed me. Some had a shocked look while others had a discussed look. The man with the crossbow, or Daryl as Rick told me, really didn't have any look on his face. He just sat at a table with an older looking man. Rick told me that was Daryl's older brother, Merle. Daryl ate his food not even acknowledging me while Merle just smirked at me, eyeing me up and down.

"Maggie, could you show Alice where they showers are?" Rick asked as he walked over to her.

She looked over at me with slight smile as she stood up from the table, "Yeah sure."

She waved her hand for me to follow her. I walked over to her and nodded my head to her. She started walking towards hallways then to a room that was open. There were showers; each had a wall between them. There was also an island in the middle of the shower room that had sinks and oddly mirrors that were incased with plastic.

"So there's shampoo and conditioner if you need it, and there's girly body wash and then manly body wash on the shelves in the showers." She said as she walked over to a metal rack with shelves that has stacks of white towels, wash cloths. She grabbed a towel and wash cloth and handed it to me.

"The water does run hot. I think its head by propane or gas. Not sure but you won't run out. So…um…enjoy and see you in a bit. Oh and it's still a bit early so we won't be heading to bed anytime soon. We usually sit around and chat. Hopefully you'll join us then." She said as she smiled then she headed to the doorway to leave.

"Ok. Thanks." I said with a nod of my head and not returning the smile. She turned the corner as I sat my clothes down on the island then stripped of my still wet clothes and dropped them to the floor in a pile. I sat the towel and wash cloth on the wall. I walked into the last shower and turned on the hot water, after a second or two the room started to fill up with steam. I stepped into the spray of hot watch, letting it soak my hair and rinsing off all the grime, blood and dirt. I grabbed the shampoo and poured some into my hand then reached up and started scrubbing my hair. I rinsed out the soap then conditioned my hair. After that I used the body wash, I didn't pay attention to which I grabbed and washed my body. I rinsed off then turned off water. Grabbing the towel, I started to dry off. I walked over to my clothes quickly put them on. Once I was done, brushing my hair out with my fingers and getting my dirty clothes I headed to the door way to walk out. I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking and bumped into someone's hard chest. I staggered back but didn't lose my balance. I looked up and noticed it was that guy with the crossbow, Daryl. He glared at me as he looked at me. I glared back at him.

"What the hell are you looking at?" I snarled at him.

"Nothin' much jus' a snotty ass little bitch." He said as he walked around me.

"Oh fuck you, asshole. You stuck up piece of shit. "I growled and stormed off into the area where everyone was sitting around talking.

"Alice come over here and sit down with us! Maybe tell us about yourself." Beth said as she waved me over to join them.

I sighed and walked over knowing it would be rude to just keep walking and ignore them. They wanted to know about me.

I sat down at a table that was in the middle over everyone and they all turned to me, waiting for me to talk.

"Um…well, is there anything in particular you want to know?" I asked as I looked at all of them not sure where I should start.

"What was your occupation before the world ended?" Glenn Asked with an interested smile.

"I was actually a musician. I was also a web site designer." I replied looking at everyone's faces.

"Awesome. What kind?" Asked the young boy Rick introduced me to as Carl his son.

"I was the guitarist and backup vocals in a band. We were called "Moscow Chill"." I looked up as I seen Daryl walk back into the room and joined his brother back at the table they were still sitting at.

"You'll have to share some of your music with us sometime." Carol said to me with a kind smile.

I signed think about my acoustic guitar that I had since I was a teenager. It ended up being destroyed a while back.

"Sadly, I would need a guitar to sing any of the songs, I wrote but I lost it about a month ago." I looked down trying to forget that night. It had changed me into an emotionless, empty person. I had hoped that no one would ask about it but someone did.

"What happened to your guitar?" Carol asked as I looked back up.

The memory of that night flashed in my mind as I began to tell the group what had happened that night.

_It was a quite night as my boyfriend, Connor, my cousin, Jill and her daughter, Claire sat around the camp fire. I noticed he was sitting closer to Jill the normal and wonder what was going on._

_He kept giving her side glances and smiles and she would return to them._

"_What the hell guys? What's going on?" I asked slightly angry and confused. _

"_Alice…we've been….sleeping together for quite some time now and we decided that we are going to head off on our own. It's just going to be Jill and myself." Replied Conner as he stood up from the fire, Jill following him. Jill's daughter looked at them with hurt eyes. My tempter flared not only that he was cheating on me, but he was leaving with my cousin and leaving me to care for her daughter. I guess the end of the world really make people become seriously fucked up. I shook my head at them._

"_Are you fucking serious? You cheat on me with her then up and deicide you're going to leave and leave me to take care of someone else's child during a damn zombie apocalypse?" I screamed at them as I stood up. _

"_We don't think you're a good leader and we feel Claire will just slow us down." Jill spoke up and dead, uncaring look on her face. To me it all sounded like bullshit. They didn't want to have some kid tagging along with them when they felt the need to go fuck each other. That's why they were dropping Jill's responsibility on me. _

_They both grabbed their bags and began heading off into the woods leaving me alone with a sobbing Claire. I felt sorry for the poor girl and I made a promise to myself I would take care of her and keep her alive._

"_Claire, I'm gonna take care of you and protect you. I'll never, ever, abandon you like your mom did." I said as I pulled her into a hug. She began to cry harder into my shirt as I held her tightly._

I stopped talking and let out a sorrowful sigh as I thought back after that night and what happened a few weeks later.

"So…what happened to Claire? Where is she?" Asked Rick as he started at my face with a sad look.

"She's dead. I had to kill her." I replied looking away from everyone, not wanting to see their faces.


	3. Chapter 3

A/n: I had a few typos. Not as many as chapter 1. I am excited to say, I bought the VIP tickets for Norman for the Philly Comic Con. I'm just working out how I'm getting there, where I'm staying and all that. I am so excited to meet Norman. He just means so much to me. If any of you are around that area, let me know so maybe I can say hi to ya up there. =) Ok enough of my chit chats. You're probably more worried about the next chapter. Thanks for the favorites and follows and thanks to **hayleyjune13 **for your reviews!

*Chapter 3*

Everyone looked at me with a startled look like I was a horrible person. They must have forgotten that there's an apocalypse where the dead come back to life, things were different now.

"Why? Why did you have to kill her?" Carol asked quite upset over what I had told them. I wondered why she was so upset about it like she cared. I looked back up and looked around at everyone and noticed both Merle and Daryl was looking over at me, waiting for me to come out with what had happened. Daryl looked slightly pissed off for some reason. I sighed as I started to t tell them what had happened to Claire.

_"Come on Claire, the town's pretty empty. No walkers as far as I can see. Let's get in there get some supplies and get out quickly." I said to her. She nodded to me, fear on her face about doing this run. I hated having to bring her with me but I couldn't leave her alone at our camp either._

_We quickly ran into the town and headed to the little store and went inside. There was stuff tossed all over the store. We began to look through everything that was dumped all over the place for anything we would need. Suddenly, I heard growling, moaning and shuffling of feet out side of the store. I looked up to see a group of about 10-15 walkers coming through the middle of the town. _

_"Claire, get down and hide!" I called as low as I could but loud enough she could hear me. She looked up and looked at the window of the store and gasped. She just froze. She didn't move, just stood there watching as the herd passed through._

_"Claire, get the hell down and hide!" I whispered harshly to her._

_Still she stood there in fear, not moving or hearing anything said to her. Suddenly a male walker somehow managed to make its way into the store. It hissed and growled when it looked around and seen Claire standing there. She gasped and tried to run away from it but somehow it was on her and knocked her to the ground. I quickly jumped up and ran over but I wasn't fast enough. Claire put her arm up to block it from biting at her face but instead of biting her in the face it sunk its teeth into her arm, tearing a huge chuck of her flesh out of her small arm. She cried out in pain as I ran over to her and pulled out one of my kukri knives then whistled at the walker to get its attention. It looked up at me and growled and started to stagger towards me. Once it was close enough to me, I ran the knife into the center of its head. I pulled out the knife as it dropped to the floor, dead. I ran over to Claire and looked at her arm. She was bleeding heavy. I pulled out a rag from my pack and wrapped it around her arm where she was bit. I picked her up in my arms my arms and headed to the back of the store. There was always an exit door to these buildings and more than likely safer to get out and not be seen._

_I pushed the door open and headed back to our camp. When we got there, I sat Claire down. She looked so pale. She was still bleed heavy through the bite she had got. She wasn't going to last very long. Something in the back of my mind told me she wasn't. Tears started to form in my eyes as I watched her as she sobbed knowing she wasn't going to make it._

_"Alice…I know- I know I'm going to die and since I've been bit, I'm going to become one of those things and I'll try to attack you. You're gonna have to kill me before I die. I don't want to become one of those lifeless things. I thank you for caring for me as long as you did and keeping me safe as long as you did. I would have rather have you as my mama then my real mother. I love you." She said to me with tears falling down her face. I was shocked at how mature she was being for only being a 12 year old girl. She understood what would happen to her and that she wasn't going to make it. I nodded to her accepting her request. I know she would become a walker and I don't think I can handle seeing her become one then having to kill her. Tears started to pour down my face as I pulled out the gun that was in the waistband of my jeans and then leaned over her looking down at her._

_"Claire, I love you sweetheart and I'm so sorry this happened." I said as I aimed the gun at the side of her head. I watched as she became a more sickly pale color, like she was almost dead. She closed her eyes and waited for me. I closed my eyes and pulled the trigger. Blood splattered all over me at being so close to shooting someone. My heart sank to my stomach as I fell backward to the ground and sobbed. After a few minutes of just sobbing my heart out, I got up and picked up Claire's body and headed off to the woods to bury her. I know if I didn't do it quickly, walkers would be drawn. I looked around the small camp for something to could start to dig up a hole to place Claire in. After looking around, I found a mini shovel in the truck we used to move our stuff about. I began digging the small plot as tears dripped down my face. After the hole was deep enough, I picked up Claire's body and placed it into the hole. I placed the dirt back over her and signed. I sat there thinking of how this girl came into my care, how my boyfriend took off with my cousin, leaving me with this poor girl, knowing all too well, it would be hard to keep both her alive and myself. I walked over to the camp site and looked over at Claire's things when something inside of me snapped. I grabbed my guitar in blind rage and slammed it as hard as I could against the ground with a scream. The guitar busted into pieces. I dropped down to my knees sobbing over everything. I had failed in keeping my promise in keeping Claire safe._

I looked back up at everyone as I had finished telling them what had happened. Carol had tears running down her face, Glenn, Maggie, Hershel, Rick, Beth, Carl and Michonne just looked like they were in complete shock. Even Merle looked at me with a slightly sad look on his face. Daryl no longer had that pissed off look. For the most part his face was just emotionless. Funny, he seems a lot like me. After Claire, I became bitter, cold and angry. I never smiled at anyone or anything. The only thing I was trying to do was survive this shitty world. I had nothing left to live for but myself.

I cleared my throat and stood up from the table, feeling slightly uncomfortable. I needed to do something to get away from everyone but keep me busy.

"Um…Rick? Is there anything you need me to do? Like watches or something?" I asked him as I looked to him to see if there was anything he needed me to do.

"Yeah, would you like to go to the watch tower to keep watch for an hour or so?" Rick asked me coming out of his shock over my story.

"Ok sounds good to me. I can stay up late if you like. I won't be sleeping anytime soon." I replied.

Rick walked over to me and handed me the gun they used to for the lookout towers.

"I'll show you the ones we use. Come on." Rick said as he walked over to the door to go outside. The storm had passed and it was starting to clear up, revealing that the sun was slowly starting set into the ground.

"Mostly you just have to keep an eye out for people and walkers if they gather in one spot. Take 'em out." Rick said as he led me up the steps of the tower.

"Alright, got it. No unnecessary shooting of anything unless need be." I said as I nodded my head to him. I watched as he headed down the steps and back to the prison. I stood watch, walking around the tower looking out and watching the few walkers that stagger around the field. I heard footsteps coming up the steps; I looked over to see Merle walking up them.

"Ya should be helpin' the women out instead of bein' up here on look out, Goldie Locks." Merle said with a smirk.

"I'm not so good at the sewing, washing clothes. I can cook but usually it's for me. Besides right now, I don't really want to be around them." I said as I looked over at him.

"I know what ya mean. That group looks at me with disgust and I know they would rather have me leave. My brother on the other hand wants me to stay here. I'm just here for him. He's my brother and I'll always look out for him. Could care less 'bout those others. If I could get my brother to leave, maybe I'd consider takin' ya with us. Ya don't seem like ya fit in with these people either." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Oh..well, um…thanks." I said unsure of how to answer him.

"I don't usually say this to many but…I'm-I'm sorry about what has happened to ya. I can't imagine havin' to kill my kin. Hell, I'd probably track down that bitch and asshole that left you, like they did and kill 'em if it was up to me." He said with a deep frown as he looked over to me. Oddly, enough I seem to like Merle. Even though from what I heard he was crude, derogatory and from what I was told, a prescription drug addict. I couldn't blame him for that addiction. We all had our demons. Hell, I was into heavy drinking back in the day before the world ended. After that I had sobered up to keep myself focused on staying alive. Merle didn't seem to judge me and he seemed to be the first person to approach me and talk to me. It seemed like everyone else was slightly timid, fearful or just pissed off at me to speak to me but he wasn't. I wasn't sure if I could say he was a friend but it seem like he was the first person to treat me normally.

"Thanks, Merle. That does mean a lot to me to hear." I said with a frown. I wanted to smile but still seemed so hard to do it.

"No problem. Maybe sooner or later we can work on gettin' ya to smile sometime." He said as he turned to the steps to leave.

"I don't know about that. I haven't smiled in months…after what happened." I replied as I focused back on my watch.

After an hour or so of doing my first look, Maggie walked up the steps.

"Hey, my turn to do the lookout watch. Why don't you head back to the prison and get some rest. I know you got to be tired." She said with a smile.

"Ok yeah. It's starting to hit me like a ton of bricks how tired I am. It's been a super long day." I said with big yawn. It wasn't until now that it hit me I was really tired.

I walked down the steps and towards the prison. Walking inside, I noticed Merle was the only one still awake. He was looking out a window but turned his head when he heard me walking up the steps.

"Hey Merle, figured you would be asleep with the others." I said as I walked over to him.

"I couldn't sleep. I got a lot on my mind; like what the Governor is gonna do to everyone if Rick doesn't make a move soon. He said somethin' 'bout goin' to talk with him but there ain't no talkin' with that man. He just wants everyone here dead." Merle said looking over at me. I looked at him completely confused. Who was this Governor he was talking about and why did he want everyone dead?

"What are you talking about, Merle? Who's the Governor and why does he want us dead?" I asked slightly annoyed that no one had filled me in on this.

Merle had filled me in on what was going on and the man I had seen attack today was the Governor. He also filled me in on how he knew this Governor so well. I was a bit shocked to hear Rick had handcuffed Merle to a pipe in Atlanta and left him for dead. He did tell me that Daryl went back for him but Merle had already done the deed of cutting off his hand and took off.

"I think I'm gonna have a talk with Rick about this guy. If he did what he did to us, you guys aren't going to make it." I mumbled a bit, looking out the window.

"We're gonna need all the help we can get. Although I think we should just pack up and roll on outta here. That man ain't right in the head. Anyway, I heard from Daryl yer quite a smart mouth. He said ya piss him off a lot. I ain't ever seen him get so fired up over a girl 'fore." Merle said with a large grin.

I scoffed at what Daryl had told Merle as I looked over at him.

"That feeling is mutual. I know he's your brother and all but he's so fucking arrogant. He pissed me off when he tackled me to the ground and man handled me like he did when I helped you all out after that attack. I haven't done anything to him; I just happen to see the group being attack and like a fool I came to help." I shrugged my shoulders not sure what to make of this whole situation.

"This is just between yerself and me, but our asshole father was a drunk. When he was drunk, he would be us, badly. When I'd get into trouble and ended up in juvie, I know he took it out on my brother worse. So we're a bit rough and slightly untrusting of others. He may lighten up around ya as times goes by, who knows." Merle said to me as he turns away from the window to look me in the eyes. I slightly nodded to him not sure what to say for a few moments.

"Merle, if you don't trust people why did you tell me this?" I asked looking out over the area everyone was sleeping in then back to him, he smiled at me slightly.

"Well, Cause I like ya. Ya seem to be like us. Ya don't fit in with these others all too well." He said to as he pat my shoulder and walked down the steps to his cell, not giving me a chance to respond to what he said. Although I don't think I could respond to that. I walked down the steps and passed by the first cell and noticed that it was occupied by Daryl. I looked over at him as he was sound asleep. I thought about what Merle had told me about them both and left out a slightly sad sigh for them. I started to think maybe I should go a bit easy on him after learning about what had happened to him but thought realized Merle told me in confidence of not letting on I knew. I guess I would just take slow, baby steps with him. I headed off to my cell to get some much need rest.

I woke up the next day, and climbed out of the bunk bed and headed outside to see Maggie and Glenn unloading stuff from the Hyundai Tucson. Glenn looked up at with a huge grin and walked swiftly walked back over to the vehicle. He pulled out something I was not expecting to ever see. It was an acoustic guitar. My jaw dropped slightly as he brought it over to me. Everyone had smiles on their faces as Glenn handed the guitar over to me. I looked up at him with a shocked expression on my face. I noticed everyone was smiling and oddly even Daryl had a slight smirk on his face. That shocked me even more. Daryl Dixon, the arrogant smart ass was actually smiling with the rest of the group over a gift the group had given to me. I don't ever thing I would forget seeing that!

"Maggie and I did a quick run into town nearby and we happened to find this while there. Figured since your last one was destroyed, we would get you a new one." Glenn said as he handed it over to me. I took it and started to strum it a bit. I was just completely amazed over them getting this for me.

"Oh wow, I don't know what to say- but thanks so much." I said to them looking at the guitar.

"Um…maybe after…we get this stuff inside, you could…I don't play some of your music?" Maggie asked me with a hopeful smile. I slightly blushed a bit looking at everyone as they looked at me.

"Um..yeah. Sure, I'd love too." I replied as my cheeks got a bit pinker. God, I was acting like a school girl over this. I should be used to singing in front of people. I used to tour all over the place. Why was I blushing like an idiot?

"Great! I can't wait to hear some of your music!" Glenn said in an excited voice. He quickly rush over and pulled out the rest of the stuff they had got from the run and took it into the prison.

After everything was unloaded from the Tucson, I found myself sitting on one of the tables inside the prison where we would eat inside, holding the guitar that was given to me.

"Alright guys, this is a song I had written myself but it was never done. Not even my band knew about this song. So you guys are the first to hear it." I said as I looked around at everyone as they sat either at the tables or on the floor. Daryl sat off away from everyone else with his brother across from him at a table. I looked back down at my guitar as I started to strum the guitar. I began to sing…

_Crowded streets are cleared away_

_One by One_

_Hollow heroes separate_

_As they run_

_You're so cold_

_Keep your hand in mine_

_Wise men wonder while strong men die_

_Show me how it ends it's alright_

_Show me how defenseless you really are_

_Satisfied and empty inside_

_Well, that's alright, let's give this another try_

_If you find your family, don't you cry_

_In this land of make-believe, dead and dry_

_You're so cold, but you feel alive_

_Lay your hand on me one last time_

_Show me how it ends it's alright_

_Show me how defenseless you really are_

_Satisfied and empty inside_

_Well, that's alright, let's give this another try_

_It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, It's alright…it's alright. _

I finished strumming the cords to the song and then stopped and looked up at everyone. They all smiled and clamped. I actually blushed a bit again as everyone complimented me.

I looked over at Rick as he walked over to me as I sat the guitar down on the table. He looked like he had something to either say to me or he wanted to ask me something.

"Daryl, Hershel and I are going to meet this guy The Governor later today and I also wanted you to come along in case anything was to happen. You're a good fighter so it would be good to have you with us. Would you like to go?" Rick asked as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Yet again, I was shocked. Suddenly I was like a part of this group like I'd been with them the whole time. What had happened?

"Yeah sure, I'll go with you all." I said with a nod as I stood up.

"Alright, go pack up anything thing you need. Bring all your weapons. Your guns and melee if we have any walkers then meet us at the Tucson when you're ready. We'll be leaving in about an hour." Rick said then headed off to talk to others who were also going with me. I headed off to my cell to begin packing up what I needed for this trip to meet this Governor.

* * *

A/N: Song used So Cold by Breaking Benjamin. I figured that would be a good song to use in the situation with Alice and Daryl since she found out about why he's the way he his and would sort make way for changes but there won't be any major changed until at least maybe Chapter 5.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks to hayleyjune13 for reviewing every chapter I have posted so far! I get notices that someone added it their favorites or started following but never saying they liked it and what not. Ah oh well. Well, here is chapter 4.

* * *

*Chapter 4*

I headed outside and seen Merle standing at the door I came out of. He has a deep frown on his face. I walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Merle. What's wrong?" I asked when he looked up at me.

"Nothing. Jus'- jus' be careful is all; Yer the first person besides fer my own brother, who ain't looked at me like I'm some sort of terrible man." He said to me. I knew this had to be a different side of Merle and he wasn't used it. I was a bit shocked myself.

"Merle, you don't need to worry about me. I'm gonna come back safe and sound and I'll make sure your brother comes back just as safe. I hate making promises but this is one I will keep to you." I said then patted his shoulder as I walked over to the Tucson. I happen to look up and seen Daryl looking at me while he stood at his motorcycle. He walked over to me not taking his eyes off me.

"What were ya sayin' to my brother?" He said with a snide tone to his voice.

"Not that it's any of your business, I told him I would come back safe and I also made a promise to make sure you came back safe too. I've been the first person to treat him decently and he's done the same for me." I said in calm manner. I was actually trying to be civil with him even if I knew he wasn't going to be.

"I don' need a damn baby sitter. I can take care of myself, have been and these people for since the world went to shit. I don't need some stupid, smart mouth girl to keep watch over me!" He snarled as he got into my face.

"You know Daryl, you don't intimidate me. I've kicked guy's asses that were a hell of a lot bigger then you. Besides, I know you don't need a baby sitter and I'm not going to be but Merle is my friend and I do care about him and he just happens to be worried about you!" I shouted into his face.

I watched him as he took a few deep breaths then backed off and walked back over to his bike. Everyone was looking at me then to him, wondering what had happened. I was so angry; I just climbed into the back of the Tucson and waited to leave. I looked up to see the drive side door open and Hershel climb in. Then a few seconds later Rick got into the passenger seat. I overheard the motorcycle come to life then Hershel started up next. Then we were off as someone pulled opened the gates to let us out.

It was a bit of a long drive to this meeting place. I just sat in the back seat and watched as everything blurred by. Finally after what seemed like hours of driving Daryl's bike stopped and we stopped.

"Hershel you stay here. Alice, you're coming with Daryl and me. Have your weapons out and ready for anything." Replied Rick to me as he opened the door and stepped out. He pulled out his gun as I stepped out also and pulled my knives as Daryl took the lead, crossbow in hand ready to fire. Rick quickly followed along and I followed after them. We kept a quick pace between the metal towers to store feed. We came to an opening and seen a walker dead on the ground. Daryl bent down to double check as Rick pointed he was going ahead a bit, we both nodded and fell behind and followed Rick. There was a building next to us and Rick went to the door that was opened and disappeared inside of it. Daryl pointed for me to go around one side then pointed he would go around the other. We did a quick walk around the building. We both found the same window and looked inside to see Rick and that same man I had seen the day the prison was attacked, sitting across from him. Daryl looked over to me and waved his hand to follow and we headed back to meet Hershel. Daryl told Hershel both Rick and the Governor were sitting down. Hershel said something about there wasn't any cars being around. For some reason or another I felt uneasy about this place. I also had this gut wrenching feeling something just may be going down. I overheard Daryl tell Hershel something didn't feel right and to keep the car running. Suddenly a truck rode up; both Daryl and I got our weapons ready as he said, "Head's up."

Daryl aimed his crossbow at the truck as two men got out at the same time then a blonde haired woman climbed out.

"What the hell? Why's yer boy already in there?" Daryl said to the blonde woman as she walked over to us. She looked over at me with a confused looked then back to Daryl.

"He's here?" She replied sounding confused.

"Yup." That was all he said to her.

I heard her let out a sigh as she walked off and also went into the building. I looked to Daryl with a look of 'Who the hell is she?'

"I'll explain later." He replied to me in a calm tone. Now that shocked me. Daryl actually spoke to me in a calm tone. He wasn't yelling, snarling or being snide.

Hershel got out of the car and was standing near Daryl and me as we watched the two other men. One of them with glasses on was leaning on the hood of the truck writing something down.

"Maybe I should go inside?" Hershel said out loud to everyone.

"The Governor thought it best that he and Rick spoke privately." The man with the glasses said to us.

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl asked him.

"Milton Mamet." The man with the glass said to us.

"Great. He brought his butler." Daryl said in a smart tone.

I couldn't help myself and snorted at what Daryl had said. I looked up at both this Milton and the other guy standing with him. The other guy looked slightly Mexican to me. He was eyeing me up and down and smirked at me. I shook my head and looked back over to Hershel and Daryl.

"I'm his adviser." Milton informed all of us, trying to sound professional.

"What kind of advice?" Daryl questioned him watching him closely. I turned my focus back on them. Mostly keeping the other guy in my line of vision but not looking at him. I didn't trust that guy. He kept eyeing me up and down. That stupid fucking smirk not leaving his face when he did so, it was starting to piss me off.

"Planning. Biters Uh, you know, I'm sorry. I don't feel like I don't need to explain myself to the henchmen." Milton replied in a snotty, smart ass tone. I jerked forward to go after him but Daryl placed his arm in front of me to stop me from doing anything. Yet again, I was shocked and backed off.

"You better watch your mouth, sunshine." Daryl said as he kept his arm in front of me, knowing all too well, that if he wanted to he would let me go and I would pounce. I was ready to do so, more than likely to kick the other guy's ass first then Milton for trying to be a smart ass.

"Boy, being around this Governor has made you guys into some cocky sons of bitches, eh?" I snarled at them both.

"Look, if you and I are going to be out here pointing guns at each other all day, do me a favor, shut your mouth." The Mexican looking guy said to us.

"How about you shut your fucking mouth and you keep that little prick's mouth shut while you're at it, you fucking asshole!" I yelled at him. He just smirked at me again but this time he gave me a wink.

"Oh, bit feisty. I like 'em feisty." He said to me.

Daryl walked over to him and began to stare the guy down as he stood to challenge him.

"We don't need this. If it all goes south in there, we'll be at each other's throats soon enough." Hershel said trying to ease the tension between us.

Daryl dropped his crossbow and walked back over Hershel. I still stood between Daryl and the other two guys. I was still ready to beat the piss out of them both, plus I was just getting tired of this asshole looking at me. He had that look like he was just slowly undressing me with his eyes. I was so sick of it.

Suddenly we heard the door that the blonde woman went into open back up and she walked out. She sat down on something and sighed. Everyone just stood around, not saying too much to each other. Daryl was just pacing back and forth, letting out a frustrated huff of breath. I stood there leaning my back on our car as I looked over my knives, making sure there wasn't anything broken. I only wished I had a blade sharpener to sharpen them. I always wanted to make sure they were the sharpest they could be. I overheard Milton yakking off about something. The other guy said something and Daryl added something to the conversation. They talked between each other when we all heard the familiar sounds of growls near us. The blonde woman jumped up quickly and began to head off to where the growls came from, flipping a small knife out. Daryl followed a little ways behind her while the other guy walked over to his truck and pulled out a bat. I stood up and followed them over. There were a handful of walkers stumbling about towards us. Daryl and the other guy both stopped, waiting for one of them to move. Daryl motioned his hand for the other guy to go.

"After you." Daryl said to him. The other guy shook his head slightly at Daryl.

"You first." He said making me roll my eyes at him.

The blonde woman walked forward and pushed a walker up against the metal feed container and began to stab it in the eye. It dropped to the ground dead.

"Pussy." I overheard the guy say to Daryl as he walked a head of us. I glared at him as I walked over to a walker and waited for it to walk towards me. When it got close enough, I did a quick twirl and my arm flew out, slicing its head off completely right above the eyes. It dropped to the ground and a second later the top of its head dropped to the ground above it. I looked over my shoulder to the both of them. The Mexican looking guy walked up and slammed the baseball bat into a walkers head against the metal container then looked over his shoulder at me then Daryl. I was clearly unimpressed and neither was Daryl. The guy took out another and looked back at me; still thinking he could impress me. Daryl stepped up a bit and fired a bolt out of his crossbow, hitting one of the walkers right in the head and went through to the next walker behind the first one. The bolt stuck in the neck of the second one. The other guy went to kill that one when Daryl pulled out his hunting knife and threw it, hitting the walker right in the head, dropping it to the ground. I shook my head at Daryl. It was almost like a pissing contest between the three of us to see who was better. I noticed the blonde woman had walked off. Daryl walked over to one of the walkers, noticing something in it pocket.

"Look what he's got." I heard Daryl say as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He offered one to me and I took one then he offered one to the guy whose name I had yet to learn; although I did not want to know it. He would take it as me showing an interest in him and I had nothing to do with the guy. To me he was a damn scum bag.

"Nah. I prefer menthols." He said to Daryl, looking at me yet again as I placed the cigarette to my lips and walked over to Daryl. He lit mine then he placed one between his lips and lit his.

"Douchebag." I heard Daryl say to him. I snorted yet again at what Daryl said.

"What's so funny?" The guy asked me, looking a bit annoyed.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing at all." I replied to him.

"You know, instead of staying with these pussies, you could come back with me to Woodburry. Show you a good time." He said to as I let out a puff a smoke.

"Are you serious," I snapped at him as I walked over to the walker that still had Daryl knife in its head, kneeling down and pulling out Daryl's hunting knife from the walker he threw it at. I stood back up and walked over to him. I pointed the knife at his private parts and continued,

"If you keep looking at me, giving me those looks like you do where your pretty much eye fucking me or undressing me with your eyes or even say shit like you just did to me again, I'm going to chop off your dick and balls with Daryl's knife and feed both to a fucking walker. You got that?"

He looked at me with a startled look on his face then nodded. I walked over to Daryl and handed him his knife. He stared at me then smirked at me.

"Damn. Think you made him piss his pants." He whispered to me as he took a drag of his cigarette, removing it from his mouth. He held the smoke in for a beat then blew out the smoke as I placed mine to my mouth and did the same. We all stood there in silence and listened to bugs make their music as Daryl and I smoked our cigarettes. It hit me like a ton of bricks but Daryl and I were actually getting along. We weren't at each other's throats, arguing, snapping at each other or throwing insults back and forth. We were getting along rather well. I started to wonder if this was going to say that way or was it because we were on lookout in case anything went wrong during Rick's meeting with this Governor. I hadn't met the guy but from how his two friends acted, he was a jackass. I sighed inwardly knowing all too well, the only reason Daryl and I were getting a long was we needed to keep focused on the task at hand, keeping Rick safe. I was completely deep in my thoughts when I felt the back of Daryl's hand tap my arm making me jump slightly.

"Come on; let's head back over to Hershel." Daryl said as he began walking, tossing his cigarette to the ground. I followed him and did the same.

When got back over to the car, Hershel was leaning on his crutches waiting for our return. We stood around for a bit when the shutter doors opened and the Governor walked out, not looking at any of us. Rick followed shortly after. The Governor walked over to the truck and got in then the rest of the people with him climbed in. I noticed the Mexican looking make a kissy face at me then got in quickly and then drove off. Rick got into the driver's side of the car and we followed him as Daryl climbed onto his bike then starting it up. Rick started up the car and we were heading back to the prison. This time the drive to the prison felt short and we were all pulling in to the courtyard of the prison. Slowly Rick, Hershel and I got out of the car as Daryl climbed off the bike. We all headed inside to the area were everyone slept. The feeling I had before when we were outside while Rick was meeting with the Governor came back and this time it made me sick to my stomach. I knew one hundred percent that something bad, very bad was going to down. I could hear Rick filling in everyone on this Governor and the one thing that made me feel worse was when I heard him say "We're going to war." I noticed Daryl standing by me looking at me trying to figure out what was wrong. I happened to look up and noticed everyone was gone.

"Where did everyone go?" I asked looking around the room.

"They went to set things up for dinner." He replied to me then headed over to the steps and started up them. For some strange reason I followed behind him. I watched as he placed his crossbow on the bunk bed. I went to walk over to my cell to take off my weapons and sit down for a bit and try to calm down my nerves a bit. I looked up to see Daryl standing in the door way.

"Um…it alright if I come in?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, sure. Come in." I replied. I was a bit shocked to see him coming to see me. I figured that he hated me and the only reason we were getting along today was because we were there for back up for Rick.

Daryl walked into my room and sat down on the bunk bed. He chewed on his thumb a bit while he thought of what to say. His hand dropped to his lap as he looked up at me.

"Um, Alice Thanks for comin' along and helpin' us out today and…for treatin' my brother like a person. Most people don' treat him right because of how he is." He said as he looked me in the eyes. I noticed his eyes dropped down a bit on my face then back up again. They dropped once more and stayed there for a bit.

"Daryl, what are you looking at?" I asked.

"Aw, hell. Sorry I was..um…lookin' at yer lips." He replied a blush creeping onto his cheeks. Finally it clicked in my head. He wanted to kiss me for some odd reason.

"You want to kiss me is that it?" I asked softly looking him in the eyes. He looked a bit embarrassed and nervous.

"Y-yeah. I jus'-I jus' never really kissed someone." He said his cheeks getting a bit redder.

"Well, it isn't that hard to do. I usually just go with my instincts when it comes to any of that." I said as I moved closer to him. I felt him shift slightly and turn towards me.

I moved my left hand up to the back of his neck and the right I placed on his chest. I felt him place his left his hand on my cheek the other moved to the right side of my neck. I slowly leaned in as he did, our lips almost touching and our eyes closing. Finally he pressed his lips to mine. I let my tongue slip out and run along his bottom lip and he let me push it into his mouth. I rubbed my tongue against his and he let out a low moan. I moved my hand from his neck and slid it up into his hair as I felt his arms move around to pull me closer to him. I slowly worked his tongue out of his mouth and sucked on it a bit before he pushed mine into my mouth twirling his tongue around mine causing me to moan into his mouth. We were so deep into our kiss we didn't hear someone walking up the steps. It wasn't until we heard a gasp from the door way of my cell, did we break apart and look up to see a very shocked Carol standing there.

* * *

A/N: Wow writing this chapter was a pain. I had to watch the episode several times to get the lines right. While it was fun to write but it was tough. I know most of you are gonna freak out that they kissed but things to go back to normal a tiny bit. Then something is gonna happen and bring the two together completely. Anyway, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up since I'm going out of state starting Sunday. I'm gonna try to keep Daryl like Norman talks about him the best I can and have Alice help along in later chapters.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry all it took me so long to update.I had a bit of writers block then I was debating how to go about the next chapter as my fiction does follow the episodes a little bit. Word of caution, this is the episode all fans bawled their eyes out. As promised Chapter 5 was gonna be the SUPER sad episode.

*Chapter 5*

Strangely enough, I was up before anyone else was. Then sun was just peaking over the horizon as giving some light to the prison. I had decided that I would grab a shower before anyone was awake. I grabbed a tank top, along with brown short sleeved shirt. I had a strange pair of shorts that had pants legs that could be hooked on to the shorts; I got those out and the other things I needed and headed to the showers. As the hot water ran over me, I thought about what happened with Daryl and I. I felt guilty about it like I rushed Daryl into something. He seemed to be very awkward. Besides the fact just a few hours before we had left both of us were fighting like a cat and dog. Then having Carol walk in and seeing us. I wondered if there was something between them. The one thing I did realized was that I hardly knew anything about this group. Well, besides for Merle and Daryl. All of sudden words for a song came flooding into my head. It was weird; a song was forming in my head, while during a damn apocalypse.

After I finished my shower, I got dressed and headed back to my cell. I noticed everyone was slowly waking up and beginning the day. I sat down on the bunk bed after I heard everyone head outside and grabbed my bag pulling out a note pad I had with all sorts of song lyrics wrote and started writing out the song that had formed in my head. I read over what I had written then sighed closing the note page and stuck it back into my bag then going along with my gut feeling and got my knives and shot guns and strapped them on me. After both my weapons were secure I got up and headed outside to see if there was anything going on that required my help. I see the others outside doing a various things around the area; Rick and Daryl were off walking the fence. I walked inside the area where we would sometimes eat inside and cook. I noticed Carol was working the putting and meal together for everyone when she looking up and noticed me walking in. I felt slightly awkward in the room with her and was just about to ask her where Rick was as a lie to leave the room when she spoke.

"Alice, there's something…I wanted to tell you." Carol said as she turned towards me.

Inwardly I was going 'Oh shit' while I kept a calm face.

"Uh..ok." I said as I watched Carol sit down at one of the tables. I also sit down across from her.

"I know you may think there's something between Daryl and I but other than there being something like a motherly relationship. There's nothing more. I also care for you as a mother too. I know how you felt when you talked about losing Claire. Several months ago, I lost my daughter. The terrible part was she did become a walker. Rick had to put her out of her misery. Daryl had spent days looking for her until your brother opened up this shed full of walkers. Some were Hershel's family; others were people from around the area. Somehow my daughter ended up in there. I can't help but think the three of us are damaged and belong together like some strange family. There's just one think I ask of you, please don't hurt Daryl. He's gone through a lot. I hope he won't hurt you either." She explained to me.

"You don't have to worry about me hurting him. After Connor left like he did, I decided that love in this world is not easy to come by and sadly, I sort of gave up on it. Last night, I didn't mean for that to happen. I'm honestly just here to help you all with the Governor. Afterword's, I'm not sure if I'm going to stay or not." I said with a sigh.

"Alice, we need you here to help. You've proven your worth with this group. If anything God forbid happens to Rick or Daryl, I'd want you to be the one to step up and keep us safe. I also think you shouldn't give up on love even if the world is messed up like it is." Carol said as she placed a hand on top of mine and smiled at me.

Before I could open my mouth to reply to her, Rick had a worried look on his face.

"Alice, have you seen Merle or Michonne anywhere?" Rick asked.

"No I haven't seen him or her at all. Why? What's wrong?"" I asked as I stood and walked over to him.

"I think he might be taking her to The Governor. Last I seen of them they were headed down inside the prison. They haven't come back yet. I'm gonna get Daryl and all of us are gonna go down there and see what happened." Rick said.

We headed outside and I followed Rick as he headed out to the field. Daryl was out there helping with Glenn putting up barricades.

"Daryl, I need you to come with us and see if we can find your brother and Michonne. Last I seen of them, they were headed to the inside of the prison." Rick told Daryl.

Daryl looked over at me and my head dropped to the ground. I didn't want to make eye contact with him. I began to wonder if I should go back to how I was being with him before. I know I would be probably pushing him away but I still felt like I shouldn't get close to him.

"Alright." Was all I heard him say then we headed to the door and headed to the inside of the prison. We headed back to where Daryl had last seen his brother and found some signs the Merle had took Michonne. Rick was gonna go after them but Daryl told him he couldn't track them that well.

"Then you and Alice track them down." Rick told us.

We both nodded and headed out to find Merle and Michonne.

We slipped out of the prison yard where there weren't many walkers that would prevent us from leaving. Once we were out, Daryl lead the way towards what I assumed was where we had the meeting the other day. I stayed quite thinking about last night and about what Carol had told me. I debating in taking her advice and seeing what would happen between Daryl and I or if I should just leave after this whole "war" was over with and these people were safe.

"I noticed ya haven't looked at me or talked to me since last night." I heard Daryl say pulling me from my thoughts.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I just…feel like I rushed you into something and I felt…bad about it." I said as I followed him.

"Ya didn't rush me into anythin'. 'Member last night, I wanted to kiss ya." He said stopping and turning to me like he had more to say.

"Ya ain't got nothin' to feel sorry 'bout neither. We both obviously liked it. Probably would have gone farther than that if we wouldn't have been interrupted." He said looking me in the eyes. I don't why but I sort of felt nervous with the intense look he was giving me. Oddly, my cheeks went a little red as did Daryl's.

"Seriously? You would of let things go farther than that kiss?" I asked slightly shocked.

"Ya think I'm bullshittin' ya? Like I said both of us enjoyed that kiss. If we weren't goin' to look for my brother and Michonne, I'd do it now." He said to me then turned around and started walking.

I was actually speechless over what Daryl had just told me. We had just met, hated each other and fought like cats and dogs yet we kiss each other and he's thinking of sleeping with me. What happened to the shy, awkward Daryl? Not considering all this happened in a few days. I shrugged my shoulders and kept following behind him.

The whole walk was pretty quiet after that whole chat. I kept wondering if we would ever get caught up to them in time. I could feel my stomach twist and the nervous feeling slowly started to show its self yet again. I knew something bad was going to happen. We kept walking until we seen a figure with a sword stabbing the head of a walker. It was Michonne. Daryl ran up to her as she pulled her sword out of the now dead walker's head. I followed behind him and stopped when he was close enough to her and stood off to his side.

"Hey, Where's my brother?" He paused a second then continued "You kill 'im?"

Michonne shook her head then said "He let me go." Daryl mumbled something to her and took off running. I looked at her confused then started to run after him when Michonne stopped me.

"He said he didn't want anyone to go after him." She said to me.

"Rick told me to go with him. Besides if something is wrong and Merle needs help, I'm going to be there to help him." I said as I walked around her and started to head towards the direction of Daryl.

"Why do you care about Merle so much?" She asked me.

"Why? Because he was the first friend I have ever had since the world went to hell. All the friends I had afterword, I haven't seen in months and more than likely they're walkers or dead." I said then continued walking.

I didn't even give her a chance to say anything when I started to run. After a quick sprint I caught up to Daryl. He turned around quickly aiming his crossbow at me. He dropped it down when he noticed it was me. He nodded his head then turned around and started walking. I came up beside him and we finally came up upon then place where we had gone for the meeting with the Governor. Both of us looked at each other then continued towards the area. As we got closer, I pulled out my knives as Daryl brought up his crossbow preparing for anything that may come our way. We kept walking and I noticed a car that wasn't there the last time we were there. The doors were opened but no sign of a driver anywhere. There were walkers feasting on fresh bodies as we walked around the area. Daryl and I walked past them and came upon what looked like a massacre; walkers all over eating the fresh bodies that lay about. We came up on a walker that blocked our way and Daryl shot a bolt into its head, killing it. There was blood, guts and all sorts of gore scattered about the ground. That feeling I got when something wrong was going to happen showed up again this time it was so strong that I started to feel sick to my stomach. I swallowed down the bile that was crawling up my throat as Daryl pulled out another bolt to load into his crossbow. We both stopped when we came on the worst sight possible. Merle was a walker.

He was leaning over a body of what looked to be a teenage boy, chewing on the left side of the body. Daryl stood completely still as I walked next to him looking at the horrible scene before me. I kept hoping that it wasn't him and it was some else. It couldn't be Merle. He was the only real friend I had.

Walker Merle looked up at us as he chewed on some of the meat from the body and licked his lips then stood up and started making its way toward us, almost tripping over the body. He got closer to Daryl as he dropped his crossbow to the ground and he pushed him back a bit, his face contorting into a painful expression. I dropped down to my knees my knives falling to the ground, the nausea taking over me completely and I threw up what little was in my stomach. I looked over as I watched walker Merle push towards Daryl yet again and he pushed him back, then Daryl came forward a bit and pushed him again. I could hear Daryl's slight whimpers as he kept pushing him. Finally Daryl pulled out his hunting knife and moved towards walker Merle and stabbing him under the chin. They both fell to the ground and Daryl started stabbing Merle in the face until there was no movement and most of his face was gone. I started sobbing as I watch Daryl put down his own brother then fall to the ground sobbing as much as I was. Daryl laid back on the ground, his chest heaving up and down as I leaned forward on my hands and letting my head drop between my arms and let the tears roll down my face. My whole body felt like it was shutting down. My heart felt like it had been ripped out of my chest, stomped then put back in me. I cried so hard that I started to hiccup. I felt so hurt and empty that I didn't even care at the moment that we were surrounded by walkers about ready to kill us both. I was at the point where I just didn't care anymore.

Suddenly I felt hands on my shoulder and I looked up to see Daryl's pained and hurt face. He didn't need to say anything to me. We had to head back to the prison. It was closer to sun down and it was too dangerous to be out after dark. I tried to stand up but my legs just wouldn't move. Daryl moved his hands under my arms and carefully pulled me up to my feet then bent down to get my knives. He handed them to me and we slowly started to make our way back to the prison. There was one thing, I knew, come hell or the death of me by a walker either Daryl or I were going to be the ones responsible for killing that bastard Governor. I also had finally made up my mind; I was going to stay with this group, for good. I wasn't ever going to leave Daryl's side, ever.

A/n: Good lord, this was another chapter that was hard to do. Also a bit tear jerking as it's the episode that had EVEWRYONE sobbing like babies. I still cry when I watch them episode. Anyway over at the site Mibba I just may be working on a SPF fiction. I'll post the link if anyone wants to read it.


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